Improvement in weather-strips for doors



L. W. LAWLESS.

Improvement in Weather-Strip for Doors.

Patented sep. 5.1871.

No. no,73o.

'JNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN WEATHER-STRIPS FOR DOORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,730, datedSeptember 5, 1871.

To all whom t may concern:

Be itknown that 1, LEvI M. LAwLEss, of Geneseo, in the county of Henryand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin VVeathenStrips for Doors; and do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing making a part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a front elevation of my device as applied to a door. Fig. 2is an elevation of the Vrear side of the same detached. Figs. 3 and 4are side elevations and edge views, respectively, of the operating-leverand of the slide for closing down upon the door-sill5 and Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section of the door-post on the line of Fig. l.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of thefigures.

My invention belongs to a class of devices having for its object theclosing of the usual opening' between the lower end of a door and itssill, so as to prevent the passage of rain, snow, and air throug'h thesame; and it consists in the pe` culiar construction and combination ofthe operating devices, by means of which the slide is caused to movevertically downward upon or against the door-sill, substantially as andfor the purpose hereinafter specified.

In the annexed drawing, A represents the casing of the device,constructed of sheet metal in the form shown in Figs. l and 2, andattached to or upon the outer side of the door B at its lower edge. Theouter portion of said casing extends outward from the face ofthe door toa sufficient distance to permit the operating devices to be containedbetween its wall and said door, and from thence extends verticallydownward, so as to inclose said devices. At its rear side and at itslongitudinal center a sectional wall, C, extends vertically downwardfrom and upon a line with the corresponding face of said casing, andforms a housing for and a bearing within which the operating' devicesa-re pivoted. D and E represent two bars of metal, which correspond inlength and breadth, and are pivoted together at one end, as seen in Fig.2. The front bar E has a right-e ngled notch, e, formed within its upperouter corner, while the inner bar or lever I) has a similar, but smaller, notch, d, formed within its outer lower corner, and has the metalimmediately above the same offset, so as to cause it to pass into saidnotch c and bring the end d! in a line with the corresponding end e ofthe lever E. A wedge-shaped opening', F, formed within each levercontains a spring, j', which bears equally upon each lever, so as tohold them in their coincidence, except when purposely pressed togetheror apart, in which event said spring is compressed, and upon releasingsaid levers returns them to their former relative positions.

As thus constructed and combined, the levers are placed within thecasing and connected therewith by means of a screw, G, which passeshorizontally through the walls A and C and through said lever E, andforms an axial bearing for the same. A semicircular notch, g, cut withinthe corresponding portion ofthe lever D, permits the passage of saidscrew Gr without its coming into contact with said lever. If, now, theouter ends of the levers D and E are pressed apart, the former will movedownward until it rests upon the doorsill, while the second lever E,passing upward and operating upon its central pivot G, will have itsopposite end depressed, and correspondingly move downward the contiguousend of said lever D until the latter is caused to rest' upon saiddoor-sill, so that by properly adjusting the relative movements oftheouter ends of said levers the lower edge of the lever D will be causedto maintain its horizontal position and impinge upon the door-sillalong' its entire length at the same instant. A wedge-shaped lug, H,secured upon the door-frame in such position as that, when the door isclosed, the ends of the lever shall pass above and beneath the same, andthereby be separated, completes the device, the operation of which hasalready been sufficiently explained.

The especial advantages obtained by this device arc: First, theclosingstrip is entirely contained within its casing until the door isnearly closed, by reason of which less liability exists of injury tosaid part while the door is open. Second, by being' contained within itscasing until the door nearly strikes against its jamb b and then movingvertically downward, no possibility exits of the catching of saidclosing-strip upon the sill in its passage over the same, as isfrequently the case in ordinary devices used for a like purpose.

Having thus fully set forth the nature and merits of my invention, whatI claim as new is- 1.. TheleversD endE, constructed asdeseribed, thespring f, and. the lug H, substantially as andl and pivoted together andto the easing A, in eoinfor the purpose shown. binzttion with the lug H,substantially as and for In testimony that I claim the foregoing I havethe purpose specified. hereunto set my hand this 11th day of July, 1871.2. In combination with e door and its frame, Witnesses: LEVI M. LAWLESS.the hereinbefore-deseribed device, consisting of GEO. A. BROWN,

the easing A and C, the pivoted levers D and E, HENRY BRUSH.

